Rachel Nehmer

Rachel Nehmer was first introduced to circus arts as teenager at French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts in Hancock, New York. She took a temporary detour from circus life, earning her degree in molecular biology at Haverford College and moving to Seattle to take a job in research at the University of Washington. Before long, though, Rachel was back up in the air. She joined Lara Paxton’s aerial girl gang project the Aerialistas in 2005, performing on trapeze, rope, hoop, and fabric at various regional events. In 2006 she joined forces with her now-husband Ben Wendel to create a duo trapeze act right here at SANCA. Now known internationally as Duo Madrona, the pair has logged over 1300 performances across the US and Europe. Highlights include the 29th Festival du Cirque de Demain in Paris, Circus Flora in St. Louis, Tigerpalast Variete in Frankfurt, Germany, an epic 48-village tour of Switzerland with Circus Monti, collaborative creation on two continents with Circus Syzygy, and an appearance on Patrick Sebastien’s “Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde” on French television. Rachel is a regular performer at famed local speigeltent show, Teatro ZinZanni.